different between dunce vs clot

English

Etymology

1530, named after John Duns Scotus (c. 1266–1308).

Scotus was ironically a well-known Scottish thinker. His followers, however, opposed the philosophers of the Renaissance, and thus "dunce" was first used to describe someone rejecting new knowledge in 1530; later, any stupid person.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?ns/
• Rhymes: -?ns

Noun

dunce (plural dunces)

1. An unintelligent person.

   Synonyms: idiot; see also Thesaurus:idiot

   • 1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, XXX:

     [...] Dunce, / Dotard, a-dozing at the very nonce, / After a life spent training for the sight!

Derived terms

• dunce cap
• duncedom
• dunce hat
• duncehood
• duncelike
• duncely
• duncish/dunceish

Translations

Further reading

• “dunce”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

References

English

Alternative forms

• clout (dated)

Etymology

From Middle English clot, clotte, from Old English clott, from Proto-West Germanic *klott (“lump”). Cognate with German Klotz (“block”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kl?t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Noun

clot (plural clots)

1. A thrombus, solidified mass of blood.
2. A solidified mass of any liquid.
3. A silly person.

Derived terms

• clotty

Translations

Verb

clot (third-person singular simple present clots, present participle clotting, simple past and past participle clotted)

1. (intransitive) To form a clot or mass.
2. (transitive) To cause to clot or form into a mass.

Translations

Anagrams

• Colt, TLOC, colt

Catalan

Etymology

Of uncertain, perhaps Indo-European but pre-Roman origin.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?kl?t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Noun

clot m (plural clots)

1. pit, hole
2. dip (a lower section of a road or geological feature)

Derived terms

• clota
• clotada
• clotós

Further reading

• “clot” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• clotte

Etymology

From Old English clot, clott, from Proto-West Germanic *klott; compare clod.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kl?t/

Noun

clot (plural clottes)

1. A clod; a ball of earth or clay.
2. The ground; the earth's surface.
3. (figuratively) The body.
4. (rare) A chunk of turf or soil.

Descendants

• English: clot

References

• “clot, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.